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Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag Volume 13: No such thing as a free agent

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Feb 21, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Scott Skiles huddles up with center Nikola Vucevic (9) and teammates against the Indiana Pacers during the second half at Amway Center. Indiana Pacers defeated the Orlando Magic 105-102. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 21, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Scott Skiles huddles up with center Nikola Vucevic (9) and teammates against the Indiana Pacers during the second half at Amway Center. Indiana Pacers defeated the Orlando Magic 105-102. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks, Jason Smith, Orlando Magic
Dec 20, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic forward Jason Smith (14) drives the ball toward Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford (15) during the second half of a basketball game at Amway Center. The Atlanta Hawks won 103-100. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /

From Hurley Wittacker, via E-Mail:

"The Magic are probably going to push for big upgrades this summer what with all the cap space we have. Excluding LBJ and KD (cuz duh), I’m pining for Al Horford and Mike Conley (I’m not giving up on EP, he just needs to show me more). But Horford is tricky because he’s made it clear he wants the 5th Bird Rights year that only ATL can give him. So my question is: how quickly do we put Vucevic in a sign and trade to make that happen? Does it take more than 10 minutes? 15? Hugs and kisses, – Partin"

This seems like a good time to talk about the collective bargaining agreement and the rules about raises.

Under the collective bargaining agreement from before the 2011 lockout, the Magic could work a sign-and-trade deal with the Atlanta Hawks and acquire Al Horford, with Horford receiving Bird Rights raises and length. The new collective bargaining agreement has done away with this.

If Al Horford wants to get that fifth year, he cannot do so in a sign-and-trade. The collective bargaining agreement specifically does away with this. Raises are limited to 4.5 percent in a sign-and-trade rather than the 7.5 percent a player would get for signing with the team that holds their Bird Rights.

Essentially, the nature of sign-and-trades today is you trade away enough players to give yourself the cap room to sign the player. It is not supposed to be an even deal. There is no advantage to the player to agree to a sign-and-trade unless it is the only way for that player to get to the team he wants.

The new collective bargaining agreement took away a lot of the teeth this tool had before.

The Magic are going to have enough cap room to sign Al Horford outright to the largest contract they can — roughly $108.6 million over four years assuming a $90 million salary cap. So as things currently stand, there is no reason for the Magic to give anything up to acquire Horford this way.

The decision on whether to leave Atlanta and give up the extra year and increased raises is purely up to Horford.

Next: Most suitable free agents